Whakatane sisters Shae and Macy Brady helped get one over the Aussies last week.
The Trident High School footballers played in the inaugural Trans-Tasman Clash of the Cultures event in Auckland. They helped the women’s team, Mauri, to a convincing 5-0 over the First Nationals Australian women’s team.
The Maori men’s team were 3-2 winners over their Australian counterparts.
The Whakatohea wahine said they enjoyed the cultural aspect of the event, which included a week-long build-up and a fair amount of haka practice.
“We were pretty confident when it came to the haka before the game,” Macy said.
“We had done a lot of practice and it got us pretty excited.”
Mauri coach Phill Parker, also chairman of the Aotearoa Football Trust and Maori Football Initiative, said he hoped the fixture was the first of many.
“We sat down and formed an agreement with the Australians and this will be a yearly thing. Next year they will host it.
“It is important for us to continue to keep moving forward and we have visionary thoughts of an under-18 fixture as well.
“Culture is the key driver in the initiative and football is the vehicle to expose them to the culture.
“It is important to have players from the communities in the teams and part of our purpose is to provide platforms and pathways for players.”
Story courtesy of The Whakatane Beacon and can be viewed here